ISIS chief for Afghanistan killed

The newly appointed leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group’s offshoot in Afghanistan, ISIS-Khurasan, Abu Sayed has been killed in an airstrike.

Sayed was killed in the airstrike conducted in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan on Tuesday, the US Department of Defense, Pentagon said in a statement.

“U.S. forces killed Abu Sayed, the emir of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), in a strike on the group’s headquarters in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, July 11,” the statement added.

Pentagon said the strike also killed other ISIS-K members and will significantly disrupt the terror group’s plans to expand its presence in Afghanistan.

According to Pentagon, ISIS leaders chose Abu Sayed to lead the group after Afghan and U.S. forces killed the previous ISIS-K leaders – Hafiz Sayed Khan in late July 2016, and Abdul Hasib, in late April of this year.

Afghan and U.S. forces launched a counter-ISIS-K offensive in early March 2017 to drive fighters from Nangarhar and send a clear message to ISIS that there is no sanctuary for their fighters in Afghanistan, the statement by Pentagon said.

One factor of the Afghan conflict is the Afghan government's failure to maintain a balance in its foreign policy. The imbalanced foreign policies of governments have paved the ground for Afghanistan to turn into a battlefield of proxy wars.